Cosponsor the TAPS Act (H.R. 838)

Cosponsors: Demings, Lipinski, Babin (R), Weber (R), & Wenstrup (R)

Endorsed by the Florida Police Chiefs Association

Dear Colleague:

Every person in America should feel safe and secure when they leave their home. They should be able to attend concerts, school, nightclubs, movies, and places of worship without the fear of violence. They should be able to go about their daily lives without
wondering whether or not they will be the next target of a mass casualty event. Unfortunately, this reality exists in our country. Over the last several years, communities across the country have endured too many unspeakable acts of violence in places once
thought to be safe.

Fortunately, there are promising ideas to help prevent violence before it ever occurs. The Threat Assessment, Prevention, and Safety (TAPS) Act would provide resources to create a national strategy to identify, investigate, and mitigate possibly violent
behavior through multi-disciplinary behavioral threat assessment and management. The TAPS Act would help ensure all communities, large and small, have the resources and expertise necessary to prevent violence before it occurs.

Too many times individuals who commit violent acts have demonstrated in one way or another their intent to harm themselves or others, only to have the warning signs or explicit threats ignored or mishandled.The TAPS Act would provide the resources for communities to identify those who make threats, determine the credibility of the threat, and respond in a holistic, multi-disciplinary way that takes into account the perspective of law enforcement, educators,
social workers, and mental health experts.

The TAPS Act proposes the use of an evidence-based, multi-disciplinary system to identify and evaluate the credibility of threats. Behavioral threat assessment and management has been used for years by several law enforcement agencies, including the Secret
Service and Capitol Police. The TAPS Act would provide the resources for localities to deploy this proven approach to safety in their own communities.

As a former law enforcement officer, I can attest to how important it is to be able to identify a threat and determine its credibility, as well the benefit of deploying a holistic response to mitigate the threat to the public and the individual. The ability
to respond as a community decreases the likelihood of a violent event and helps those in need receive the care they deserve.